


In the After

by SerStolas



Series: A Hero from Stone [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 19:10:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9004375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerStolas/pseuds/SerStolas
Summary: The Blight is over, Fereldan is celebrating.  But Audra Aeducan finds that things are going far from the way she had originally imagined.  Alistair and Anora are married, her former lover won't even speak to her, and she finds she doesn't hate the same way she used to.  
Brief oneshot of conversations and thoughts from female Aeducan and Loghain Mac Tir after the Warden chose to spare Loghain, and having to deal with the fallout of that decision.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A Dragon Age Origins Fan Fic  
> Warden Female Aeducan  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age or their characters, I'm just playing with their toys.

Audra Aeducan regarded the revelry around her with a forced smile on her lips. 

The archdemon was dead and the Blight ended. Her original second, Gorim, stood in a place of honor again and would be returning to Orzammar. She should be happy.

Instead she stood here among well wishers with her eyes locked on a man standing near the throne, talking to his new wife; a man she had once countered as her best friend and lover, a man she thought she might spend the remainder of her days as a warden with, once.

He looked over her, deliberately, whenever his eyes flickered to that side of the room. When she'd negotiated the marriage between Alistair and Anora, she had known their romantic relationship would be over, but she'd hoped they would remain friends. But she had refused to yield and let him kill Anora's father and the traitor, Loghain, and Alistair had resolutely washed his hands of her, dealing with her only when he had to as the new King and she as the lead Gray Warden in Ferelden.

Some sense of justice said it would have been better to execute Loghain for his crimes: for the deaths of those at Ostagar and deliberately leaving his King behind to die. But there'd already been too much death as a result of the Blight and everyone's actions. Audra was tired of the killing, so she'd chosen to spare Loghain and forced him to become a Gray Warden. 

What Alistair saw as a honor, many people saw as a punishment.

Her mercy had cost her the friendship of the man she loved. Life wasn't fair, but then it wasn't meant to be. Life hadn't been fair since her older brother had been killed and she'd been framed for his murder.

“Is he still refusing to speak with you?” a deep, human, male voice broke into her thoughts. She glanced up to see Loghain himself standing beside her, his arms crossed as he looked at Anora and Alistair as they interacted on the dais. A herald announced that the celebration feast was ready and the King offered his new Queen his arm, leading her from the dais and towards the banquet hall.

“Yes,” Audra answered her fellow Warden. “Alistair is very...set in his beliefs, it seems. He decided after Ostagar that you deserved no mercy. He hasn't changed his mind about that. I doubt he will do more than tolerate you should you come to visit your daughter.”

Loghain snorted. “I'm a Warden now, Commander. The chances of me remaining in Fereldan are slim at best. No, I do not expect to see much of my daughter in the future. I hear they will be calling me to Orlais soon. That should be interesting.”

“Interesting, he says. You are a master of understatement, Warden Mac Tir,” Audra replied, feeling a smile tug at her lips. She should hate this man. He'd caused the death of Duncan and so many others through his actions. His intentions had been good, he had thought he was doing what as best for Fereldan, but the results had been utterly disastrous.

After fighting along side him as a Warden, and through Fort Drakon and the archdemon, however, she couldn't find it in herself to hate Loghain anymore. The man had fought with all his heart against the darkspawn and had thrown himself completely into the battle against the archdemon.

Whatever else you said about Loghain Mac Tir, he did not do things by halves.

“Tell me, Commander, will he be a good husband to her?” Loghain asked her in a low voice, surprising her with the question.

Audra's head jerked up and she saw Loghain watching Anora and Alistair as they vanished from the room. In an odd parody, the human offered the dwarven Warden his arm. She considered his question and the nature of it as she mechanically accepted his arm and allowed him to lead her through the file of people towards the banquet hall.

She realized that at the core of Loghain's question was a father's concern for his daughter. She'd learned now about the rumors of Cailan being told to put Anora aside because she'd yet to produce an heir, and knew that Anora had been the real power behind the throne. She remembered her few meetings with Cailin. He had been an enthusiastic man, but did not strike her as the most politically savvy. 

“He will be faithful to her,” Audra said slowly. “What might have been between Alistair and I is no more...it has been no more since he agreed to marry Anora, actually. Whatever the remains of my friendship with him, I do not think he will treat Anora in any sort of ill manner. Alistair is a man who takes his duties very seriously. He will treat her with respect, and he will learn to work with her, for both their sakes.”

“Thank you,” Loghain replied after a moment. “I suppose parents always worry after their children...though she is a woman grown now, and a Queen. I've made mistakes, many of them, but I still worry about her.”

“You're a loving father, Loghain, it's natural to worry about your daughter,” Audra replied. She thought back a moment on her relationship with her own father, before he'd died. The circumstantial evidence against her had been enough to convict her of her brother's murder.

Best not to think about her own family, or the shattered remains thereof.

“However else he may treat you,” Loghain said, nodding towards Alistair as he and Anora took their places at the head of the table, and Loghain lead Audra to a nearby place of honor. “You have my thanks for your mercy. There is enough for me to atone for, and you have given me a chance to do so.”

“You were a man of honor once, Loghain Mac Tir. There has been enough death as a result of this Blight. If I could keep one more from occurring,” she shrugged. “Use the chance I gave you well.”

“I will,” he promised.”


End file.
